Darkness Awakens
by TheDarknessAwaits
Summary: What would happen in a world where Rusty the kittypet brought evil to the forest with his coming, and Tigerclaw was destinied to save the clans? AU. R&R to help me improve my writing. Thx!
1. Allegiances

**AU: Hi guys! I'm currently writing an alternate universe to Into the Wild, where Firestar is actually evil, and Tigerstar will actually try to save the clans from him. So, here are the allegiances for my story! They are the Into the Wild Thunderclan allegiances, and as I go along, I will let you know if any changes have been made to them. I hope you enjoy! Let me know if there are any OCs you want me to include in the story.**

 **Allegiances: Thunderclan**

Leader: Bluestar- Blue-grey she cat, tinged with silver around her muzzle. 14 19

Deputy: Redtail- Small tortoiseshell tom with a distinctive ginger tail. Apprentice: Dustpaw.

Medicine Cat: Spottedleaf- Beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat with a distinctive dappled coat.

Warriors: Lionheart- magnificent golden tabby tom with thick fur like a lion's mane. Apprentice: Graypaw.

Tigerclaw- Big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws. Apprentice: Ravenpaw.

Whitestorm- Big white tom. Apprentice: Sandpaw.

Darkstripe- Sleek black-and-grey tabby tom.

Longtail- Pale tabby tom with dark black stripes.

Runningwind- Swift tabby tom.

Willowpelt- Very pale grey she-cat with unusual blue eyes.

Mousefur- Small dusky brown she-cat.

Apprentices: Dustpaw- Dark brown tabby tom.

Graypaw- Long-haired solid grey tom.

Ravenpaw- Small, skinny black tom with a tiny white dash on his chest, and a white-tipped tail.

Sandpaw- Pale ginger she-cat.

Firepaw- Handsome ginger tom.

Queens: Frostfur- Beautiful she-cat with a white coat and blue eyes.

Brindleface- Pretty tabby she-cat.

Goldenflower- She-cat with a pale ginger coat.

Speckletail- Pale tabby, and the oldest nursery queen.

Elders: Halftail- Big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tale missing.

Smallear- Grey tom with very small ears. The oldest tom in Thunderclan.

Patchpelt- Small black-and-white tom.

One-eye- Pale grey she-cat, the oldest cat in Thunderclan. Virtually blind and deaf.

Dappletail- Once pretty she-cat with a lovely dappled coat.


	2. Prologue

Nutmeg closed her eyes. The scent of the storm was in the air. Fitting, as today she would create a storm of her own. Today, Sunstar would die, for the sake of her kits, and for the sake of the future generations of Thunderclan. Today, the one who had secretly been plotting murder and destruction with the Dark Forest would fall, and Rusty and Princess would be safe. Even if she died today, she would go down fighting, knowing that her could live with their twolegs in peace, without ever knowing that in the forest where their mother had been born and lived in all of her life, evil lurked. She had birthed them in Twolegplace, then gone back to her clan without telling her clanmates what had happened, leaving her kits unscarred by battle and free to live a life where they would always have food and a roof over their head.

She padded silently through the trees, feeling the moist earth sink beneath her paws, refreshing and cool. _The camp,_ she thought, as she reached a worn, trodden path leading through a tunnel of gorse. Surveying the area carefully, she clambered up a tall oak tree, digging her claws into the soft bark. Pulling herself up higher and higher, she leapt up onto a branch that hung over the camp, giving her a good vantage point. Night was falling, the perfect time to strike, as no one would see her coming. Nutmeg looked carefully over the camp, noting Sunstar's position, in the leader's den in the Highrock. For a moment, her sight blurred, as she saw the cats she knew and loved, and realized that in order to get to Sunstar, she would have to harm them. She had grown up with these cats, shared tongues with them... No. She could not be deterred from her goal. Tonight, Sunstar would die.

"Nutmeg!"

Nutmeg spun around, struggling to keep her precarious balance. A dark blue-grey tom stood there, ice-blue eyes shining in the moonlinght, and she let out a pented-up breath, sighing in relief. "Stormtail! Don't scare me like that again. I thought you were someone else who discovered me."

"Never mind that, Nutmeg. It's almost time." The warrior's voice was deadly serious, a glint of excitement in his eyes. "Adderfang, Sparrowpelt are in position, as well as the other rogues, and Leopardfoot is getting ready now. Let's go!"

A feeling of dread crept into Nutmeg's heart, and she stretched, trying to get rid of the frozen feeling that had come with the dread. "Alright, but I think this tree is a fine spot for an ambush."

"Fair enough, give me the signal when you're prepared." And Stormtail slipped down the tree, into the shadows with a grace belying his bulky appearance. Nutmeg sank into a crouch, as her heart started to pump faster and faster, until the pressure was almost unbearable. In the distance, she saw her group's eyes glinting from almost all sides, and she swallowed hard.

 _This is for you, my kits. I love you._

She flicked her tail twice from side to side, then leapt into the ravine, yowling her defiance to the stars above. And almost like their reply, the sky unfolded, and the rain started to fall.

* * *

Nutmeg ripped her claws through flesh, feeling it tear from bone. She gazed into bright yellow eyes and snarled, pinning Sunstar to the wall as he thrashed against her, trying to break her hold. "Oh, no you don't," she growled, feeling his breath hot against her skin. "I'm not letting you hurt anyone again, _traitor._ Sunstar bared his teeth at her, his bright ginger fur like a flame in the darkness, accentuating his threatening look.

"What do you mean? I'm not the one who's betraying her clan."

Nutmeg slammed his head against the stones, roaring. "I...Hate...You!" She positioned her claws at Sunstar's throat, preparing to cut his throat to pieces. "You will not endanger my clan anymore!" Behind her came Leopardfoot's call.

"Nutmeg, hurry! I don't know how much longer we can last!"

And adding to the confusion, a loud yowl ripped through the mayhem. "No! Nutmeg!" It was Stormtail's voice, panicked and angry, and the dread threatened to overwhelm Nutmeg, as she knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Then pain. Unbearable pain. Her head spun, and her dazed gaze fixtated on the cat that held her against the ground. Thrushpelt. "You mangy piece of fox-dung!" He snarled, eyes blazing. "Get off of my leader!" He slammed her head against the ground again, and her vision went dark.

* * *

When Nutmeg woke up, she stood on a starry path that led up, up into the sparkling sky. A ginger cat stood before her, green eyes sparkling mischeviously. "J-Jake?" She gasped, backing away slightly.

"Nutmeg," he murmured, and his voice sounded like the best thing in the entire world to Nutmeg, silky and gentle.

"Am... Am I in Starclan? What about Rusty and Princess?" Again, she felt that pain rip through her chest.

"Do not worry about them, my love." Jake stepped up to her, twining his tail with hers. "We will watch over them, here in the stars." He gazed into her eyes, fond love apparent in his eyes. "We have so much to talk about."

Grief was replaced by an aching in her heart, knowing that Jake was here, that he loved her, that she was again with the love of her life. "Yes, we do," she whispered.

"Come with me," he mewed, and walked forward, into the bright sky. Nutmeg followed, and couldn't help but look back.

 _Rusty, Princess. I love you... I died for you, so that you could live. Know that even though I am in the stars, I will watch over you._

 _Goodbye._


	3. Chapter One

**DC: I do not own Warriors... As you can probably tell, because I'm writing a fanfic. BTW, since this story is in an alternate universe, the situation is a bit different for Rusty... Thx for reading^^, sorry if this chapter wasn't very good, it was a little rushed. BTW, I am beta reading, so if you want a beta reader, I'm always available!**

 **Chapter One: Rusty**

Rusty sat on one of the posts of the fence that marked the boundary across the place where the houses ended and the forest began, watching, listening. Those wretched forest cats were near, as he could taste their reeking scent from a mile away. He bit back a laugh. _Kittypet, huh?_ He was no kittypet, as the forest cats called them, one of those plump, mewling idiots who had to beg to get what they wanted. He was not a rouge either, the scrawny cats who would do anything to survive, except for taking food from housefolk. Rather, he was something in between, a cat who could fight and hunt as well as any warrior, but still took food from housefolk, as well as being owned by them. True, he loved his housefolk, but he would not bow down to them like they were his masters. He was a creature of the wild, born in captivity but with wild blood in his veins.

He leapt down from his spot on the fence, across the border onto the wild cats' territory. _Come at me, I'm not afraid of you..._ Slowly, he could taste the scent of the forest cats getting closer and closer, and his muscles tensed in apprehension, but he kept his shoulders relaxed, his tail hanging limply. Hate coursed through his veins, and he gritted his teeth, struggling to maintain a calm air. Someday, he would make them pay for killing his mother... but not now. For today, he would just taunt them, maybe tear some fur out and get some tempers riled up.

"Hey, Dustpaw, do you smell that?"

 _A female, young, probably an apprentice._ Rusty kept on listening, ears twitching.

"Yeah, reeks like a twoleg," A male said, probably Dustpaw. "Do you think it's one of those kittypets?"

"Ooh, maybe." The female's voice sounded excited. "We should go after him, and bring him back to Bluestar. What I would give to get some kittypet fur snagged in my claws..."

"Do you think we'll be able to take the kittypet on? I mean, we're only apprentices, and the senior warriors and Bluestar will probably get pretty mad if we come back hurt. We don't want the lecture on safety again, do we, Sandpaw?"

Sandpaw snorted. "Don't worry so much, Dustpaw. All kittypets are weak. Now, let's go sneak up on the kittypet, it doesn't even know we're here..."

Rusty stifled a purr of amusement, and waited calmly, listening carefully. "Shh!" Sandpaw hissed irritatedly, and he heard a muted thump, he imagined from Sandpaw's paw swatting Dustpaw's flank. "He's gonna hear us!"

Rusty waited for a few more moments, then heard the loud rustling that meant the two apprentices were about to spring from the trees. Suddenly, two small blurs leapt from the undergrowth, roaring and slashing blindly at the air, and Rusty sidestepped them easily, leaving them on the ground in a tangle of limbs and teeth. "Ow!" Sandpaw yowled, and slashed at Dustpaw, opening a gash in his shoulder. "It's me, mousebrain!"

"Sorry," Dustpaw squeaked, and scrambled to his paws, backing away from Sandpaw and locking his gaze on Rusty. Immediately, he sprang into action again, rearing on his hind legs and swiping at the air. "Get back!" He growled, bushing up his fur as he tried to look threatening. "We eat bones! We can grow to the size of badgers! I'll kill you!"

Rusty sighed. "You two are the lamest warriors I've ever seen. I mean, are you really warriors? You look as tiny as kits, which would explain why you don't have any skill in fighting..." Bristling, Sandpaw sprang to her paws, snarling.

"What did you say, kittypet?" She took a step toward him, but quickly, he darted beside her, hooking a forepaw under her hind legs and scooping them out beneath her. Dustpaw raced in, eyes shining with excitement, but Rusty placed a paw over his head, pushing it down abruptly so that Dustpaw tumbled to the ground, yelping. "Hey!" Sandpaw called, teeth bared. "That wasn't fair, kitty. Come here, and I'll really fight you!" Rusty snorted, his tail waving casually from side to side as he waited for the apprentices to get up.

"Come on," he taunted, "Come and get me! If you can, that is." He watched Dustpaw spring towards him, and at the last second spun so that Dustpaw fell to the ground again. Then, he lept back onto the fence, lazily passing a tongue over his paw to clean the grime off of it. "So, where do you guys come from? The other side of Twolegplace? I haven't seen you around, or maybe that's because you guys are too lazy to venture into these parts." Sandpaw's bright green eyes began to blaze, and she growled.

"We're not filthy kittypets, we're apprentices of Thunderclan!"

 _Thunderclan?_ A chill ran down Rusty's spine, and he dug his claws into the wood of the fence, feeling that familiar hate again make his teeth grit and his stomach sour. So that was the group of forest cats that had been living on the other side of the fence. Nutmeg's clan. The clan that had killed her. Long ago, Nutmeg had told him and his sister, Princess, about her life in the clans, how there were four clans that warred and skirmished over food and land, and she had visited them scarcely, as she said she had to stay true to her clan to. She had never said where Thunderclan was, only that she was in Thunderclan. Now...

"Thunderclan?" He snorted. "I bet they don't live up to their name, looking at the likes of you."

Sandpaw seemed like she was about to explode, her eyes blazing with fury. Dustpaw just laid the tip of his tail on her shoulder. "It's not worth it," he said, shooting a contemptuous look at Rusty. Rusty shot back a withering glance of his own, and Dustpaw stared back confidently at him, his eyes defiant, then turned away. "Bluestar will deal with him when we tell her about him."

"Yeah, Bluestar will probably rip your pelt to shreds, _kitty._ " Sandpaw curled her lip and flattened her ears, then spun around and stalked off, Dustpaw trailing behind her, shooting one last venomous glare at Rusty. His stomach turning, Rusty slid back onto his side of the fence, the dirt sinking beneath his paws.

"Rusty!" His housefolk called, but he ignored her summons, instead stalking over to one of the bushes that decorated the yard, and slid under its branches, curling up by its base and closing his eyes. The rage threatened to overwhelm him, making the blood roar in his ears, and for just one moment, he let the anger wash over him, clearing his turmoiling thoughts. It took a great effort to shut the anger down, but eventually he did, concentrating instead on one thought.

 _I will eliminate the forest cats..._

He would kill the ones who had destroyed his life. By his life, he vowed to destroy the ones who had destroyed him. _I will make sure your death was not in vain._


End file.
